Fish spear



y 5, 1956 v. o. MYERS 2,745,204

FISH SPEAR Filed July 15, 1954 Virgil 0. Myers INVENTOR.

BY hm/19% lllnited States Patent i 2,745,204 FISH SPEAR Virgil 0. Myers,Milwaukee, Wis., assignor of forty-nine per cent to Herman E Myers,Minneapolis, Minn.

Application July 15, 1954, Serial No.443,4so

5.Claims. (c1. 43-6) The present invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in fish spears adapted for gigging or spearing fish andhaving a retrieving line attached thereto to retrieve the catch.

An important object of the invetnion is to provide a pivoted tip for thespear adapted to automatically swing crosswise thereof to function as abarb to prevent retraction of the spear after the same has penetratedinto the body of the fish.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spear constructed with asocket at the rear of'its shank portion in which an arrow may be fittedand shot from a bow.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character ofsimple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable inoperation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise welladapted for the purpose for which the same is intended.

These, together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on a line 22 of Figure1;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the tip of the spear turnedcrosswise to provide a barb;

Figure 4 is a front elevational view;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on a line 55 of Figure l;and

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on a line 66 of Figure 2.I

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration 1 have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention,the numeral 5 designates the shank of the spear having a socket 6 at itsrear end adapted to receive an arrow shaft 7 and with the tip 8 of thearrow inserted in a bore 9 in the shank 5.

The front end of the shank 5 is formed with a longitudinally extendingflat tongue 10 of a thickness substantially less than the diameter ofthe shank to form inclined shoulders 11 at the junction of the tonguewith the shank.

The tongue 10 is received in the bifurcated or slotted rear end portion12 of a tip 13 which has a beveled or inclined rear end portion 14corresponding to the angle of the shoulders 11 when the tip ispositioned in forwardly projecting relation at the front end of theshank and with the longitudinal axis of the tip aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the shank.

The front portion of the bifurcated or slotted portion 12 of the tip isalso inclined as shown at 14 atan angle parallel to the shoulder 11 andthe front end of the tongue 10 is likewise inclined or beveled as shownat 16 corresponding to the internally inclined portion of the tip.

A pin 17 extends transversely of the bifurcated rear 2,745,204 PatentedMay 15, 1956 2- end portion of the tip and is slidable in alongitudinally extending slot 18 in the tongue 10.

The front end of tip 13 is sharpened to a point 19 to facilitatepenetration thereof into a fish.

A leaf spring or spring finger 20 is anchored at one end in one side ofthe tongue 10 and the other end of the spring is curved as shown at 21and adapted to enter a recess 22 in the confronting side of one of thefurcations 23 at the bifurcated rear end of the tip to releasably holdthe tip 13 in longitudinal alignment with the shank 5.

The rear portion of shank 5 is provided with a ba-le 24 to which aretrieving cord 25 is attached.

In the operation'of the device the shank 5 of the spear is fitted to theshaft 7 of an arrow and tip 13 swung into a position in longitudinalalignment with the shank and is held in that position by the spring 20,and also by the front and rear abutting beveled portions of the tongue Iand tip, when the pin 17 is positioned in'the rear end respect to shank5 to form a barb and prevent retracting movement of the tip from thefish. The fish may then be retrieved by pulling on the cord 25.

Since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitablemodifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within thescope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A fish spear comprising a shank, a tip pivotally and slidablyattached to the front end of the shank, and spring means releasablyholding the tip in alignment with the shank during flight of the spearand releasing the tip upon retracting movement of the spear from anobject penetrated thereby for swinging the tip at an angle to the shank.

2. A fish spear comprising a shank having a beveled front end, and a tippivotally and slidably attached to the front end of the shank and saidtip and said shank having matching beveled portions, means releasablylook- .ing the tip in longitudinal alignment with the shank duringflight of the spear and said tip being slidable forwardly relative tothe shank for swinging movement into an in clined ,position uponretracting movement of the spear from an object penetrated thereby.

3. A fish spear comprising a shank having a longitudinal slot adjacentits front end, a tip, a transverse pin carried by the tip and slidablyand pivotally engaged in said slot, and resilient means releasablyretaining the tip in a longitudinally aligned position with the shankduring flight of the spear and. releasing the tip for swinging at anangle to the shank upon a retracting movement of the spear from anobject penetrated thereby.

4. A fish spear comprising a shank, a tip at the front end of the shank,and means pivotally and slidably connecting the tip to the shank, saidshank and tip having co-acting beveled shoulders abutting each other tomaintain the tip in longitudinal alignment with the shank during flightof the spear and disengaged for swinging the tip at an angle to theshank upon retracting movement of the spear from an object penetratedthereby.

5. A fish spear comprising a shank, a tip at the front end of the shank,and means pivotally and slidably connecting the tip to the shank, saidshank having front and rear beveled portions, and said tip having frontand rear beveled portions paralleling and abutting the respectiveReferences Cited in the file of this patent beveled portions of theshank to maintain the tip in lon- UNITED STATES PATENTS gitudinalalignment with the shank during flight of the spear, said portions beingdisengaged for swinging the tip 1414 Shores 11 1938 at an angle to theshank upon retracting movement of 5 FOREIGN PATENTS the spear from anobject penetrated thereby. 11,183 France May 22 1854 157,987 GreatBritain May 12, 1922 922,134 France May 30, 1947

